Sway bar bushing replacement 'How to'

Dealer, worldimpex, others, should have them.


I think the impex part number is 81897...


Jason

I almost started to do this tonight at midnight and decided to check on the boarad and low and behold i see this thread. Can someone clarify the 'upgraded' bolt sizes we can use so we don't have to mess with trying to compress these new bushings? I think I saw 8Mx25MM's ?

Thanks!

Matt

iamatt said:

I almost started to do this tonight at midnight and decided to check on the boarad and low and behold i see this thread. Can someone clarify the 'upgraded' bolt sizes we can use so we don't have to mess with trying to compress these new bushings? I think I saw 8Mx25MM's ?Thanks! Matt

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Yup, works well.

Yup 8m-1.25x25MM from oreilly's. Worked great however i broke the special wheel socket to take off my wheels. Only got one side done. Thanks. Neighbor bailed me out with a hex key and got the other one on. Man, it's like night and day!

Just Finished swaping to the new Bushings and Clamps along with 2 new Sway links...

_Man that clamp is a pain!! I used C-Clamp pliers to get the bolt started... One I could close enough for the OEM bolt to fit in, the Driver side however decided that with pressure it was going to move up shifting the bolt alignment. So I had to go with the 8x1.25 25 bolt in her! Good stuff, about 4 hours work including running to O'Reily's for other bolts.

Just changed mine today. The annoying clunking is finally gone. Apparently the statement about pre '02 cars needing new clamps is not true. My '00 had the ribbed style bushing and clamp on it. It was the originals and the date on the bushing was 6/99. Anybody need some new clamps? I have some extras now.

Ditto on the pre '02 statement, as I changed these out on my 04 a couple saturdays ago and it had the old style non-ribbed clamps on it.

sounds more like one of those "oh, let's see what's available in the parts bin" when they built the cars in the first place...

I highly recommend checking which style clamp you have before purchasing any parts.. It's an inexpensive piece, but a PITA if you find out you have the wrong clamps with your swaybar all taken apart and you don't have access to a new one.

Question. I had a customer in a few days ago. I replaced his bushings 11K ago. These bushings were shredded on the front upper side and almost complete worn through. I had to put new bushings in.

Any ideas? End links appear to be in good condition.

The '99 I just bought has two 16d nails driven through the sway bar bushing... I assume to try and quiet it.

How to tell 21 or 23mm swaybar?


Am I supposed to be able to tell whether I have a 21 or 23mm swaybar from this sticker? It's a 2001 Jetta.

German Auto Parts says:

"Jetta 4, all '99-05 ***with 23mm swaybar, PR code 0AE*** PR code can be found on a sticker on the trunk floor."

"Jetta 4, all '99-01 ***with 21mm swaybar, PR code 0AL or 0AM*** PR code can be found on a sticker on the trunk floor."

http://www.germanautoparts.com/Volkswagen/Jetta/Suspension/367

Any updates on where the swaybar bushing brackets can be found? I need to order them today so I get them by this weekend, and worldimpex.com is down (and the brackets are something like $13 apiece there which seems a bit outrageous). I wish tdiparts.com carried them.

EDIT: nevermind, impex started working again.

I will be taking this job on, in addition to replacing my control arms, over the next week or so and wanted to get the collective input on where to situate the use of jack stands? Most of my work has been done using a hydraulic floor jack, but for this job I want to rest stands.

VATechTDI said:

Any updates on where the swaybar bushing brackets can be found? I need to order them today so I get them by this weekend, and worldimpex.com is down (and the brackets are something like $13 apiece there which seems a bit outrageous). I wish tdiparts.com carried them.

EDIT: nevermind, impex started working again.

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I checked out German Auto Parts for control arms and saw they have the bushings for like $6.00/each, but it is probably a good idea to snag new brackets at the same time, though they don't sell them.

2 new bushings and 2 new style brackets at $51.44, plus tax, at my dealer (North Penn Imports, Colmar, PA.). I would try NAPA, they may have them too.

The bushing part number is: 1J0 411 314T

Hi guys this problem seems to be similar to what I am experiencing on my 1998 passat tdi sport (110). Whenever i go over a bump or pot hole there is a `clunk` and was worried it may be suspension arm. Have had a mechanic look it over and he concluded that there was nothing obvious to be seen, do you guys suggest I get the bushes replaced as matter of course? have got my young family travelling in the car everyday and would like to get this sorted asap for piece of mind, would be grateful if you could advise thanks people

Worn out sway bar bushings are not a safety issue. Just an annoyance really. But it would be wise to eliminate it as a suspect incase the real cause of the clunking is something safety related (like ball joints for example).

The parts are inexpensive and the procedure is fairly simple. Change them and if the clunking stops, great. If not, at least you have ruled out one potential problem and can move to the next, like perhaps the ball joints or control arms, etc. But considering the sway bar bushings are the most common cause, the cheapest & easiest to fix, it only makes sense to start with those.

Good luck.

oops... i went and read another 3 pages, and it seems my squeaking could be the bushing... any chance on getting the pictures back for the installation? They're all broken on my end (they say i need to subscribe to their site??)

Thanks! =)

katzw said:

oops... i went and read another 3 pages, and it seems my squeaking could be the bushing... any chance on getting the pictures back for the installation? They're all broken on my end (they say i need to subscribe to their site??)

Thanks! =)

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My fault. I let my subscription to Fototime lapse. I just renewed it for another year at a cost of $24, so all the pictures are back now.

I know the TDI Club picture server is free, but I have over 1000 pictures on my Fototime account, it would take weeks to upload them to the TDI Club server and then fix all the links in all my how-to's. So I just pay the yearly subscription fees to host them all for the club. So enjoy

I finally did this job over the weekend-- boy what a difference. Replaced the link bars while I was at it too.

I had a hell of a time getting the clamp in place over the new bushing. I had longer replacement bolts but the angle wasn't right for them to hit the hole. My needle nose visegrips were just barely too small to squeeze the bracket in place. However, I found that with a pair of channel locks, squeezing the clamp just below vertically caused it to pop right into place over the bushing. It then stayed in place without any sort of clamping or holding, and was even close enough to reuse the original bolts.

Just did mine too at 135K miles. Used 9" needle nose vise grips, and they were able get a grip. I reused the original bolts which were corroded and partially stripped, and had a hard time getting one side to start. The clamp and hole had to be lined up perfectly, and then the bolt had to go in at the right angle. It helped to practice starting the bolt with the clamp removed, to memorize the bolt angle.

Also, had no problem using the old style clamp with the new bushing. Next time I'll replace the bolts with new ones, same size. Might replace them sooner just to get some fresh zinc in there to slow corrosion. End link bushings looked OK, so I left them.

PS Was going to replace my shocks and struts, but the suspension sounded so much better with new bushings, decided not to for now.

I found that when I replaced my sway bar bushings, roughly "half" of my vibration/thunking went away. I was puzzled by this but no time to think about it as I was preparing the wallet for a 5-speed swap (I actually thought it might have been a loose engine mount). However, when JimBote was doing the swap, he found that one of the brackets holding the exhaust pipe to the bottom of the car (roughly under the rear seat if I recall) was corroded to the point of detachment, leaving the middle section of the exhaust pipe suspended loosely to bounce off the bottom of the car at will. A quick weld was all it took to make the remaining thunking sounds go away-- they really did sound much like the sound I perceived to have gone away when I replaced the sway bar bushings.

So I guess the moral of the story is, if you are getting the thunking check for rusted out exhaust pipe brackets before you replace your sway bar bushings. But if you're really high miles you probably will need those bushings done anyway.

VATechTDI said:

So I guess the moral of the story is, if you are getting the thunking check for rusted out exhaust pipe brackets before you replace your sway bar bushings. But if you're really high miles you probably will need those bushings done anyway.

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I think this will be an ongoing problem. I seem to recall our dealer re-welding that before the car came off warranty. I'm going to check the exhaust pipe when i replace the bushings.

On another note, This thread was started in 2004. How have the poly bushings performed for you over the years?

I went with the polyurethane replacements, which didn't even last as long as factory before lots of squeaking set in. I got annoyed at the prospect of replacing them again so took a grease gun with lithium grease and a needle nose injector and jammed it in the crack of the bushing and quirted a little in each. It's been months now, no squeaks.

davidlp said:

I went with the polyurethane replacements, which didn't even last as long as factory before lots of squeaking set in. I got annoyed at the prospect of replacing them again so took a grease gun with lithium grease and a needle nose injector and jammed it in the crack of the bushing and quirted a little in each. It's been months now, no squeaks.

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When the weather warms up, you might get that squeak back. Mine creeped in late last summer for the first time but went away all fall/winter. Now that the temps are rising again, the squeak is creeping back in. I'll be ordering some bushings tonight. I was going to go with the Energy Suspension kit but your comment is driving me back to OEM.

I'm interested in doing this job, but will I have to re-adjust the alignment of the wheels, if I change the swaybar bushing & the swaybar link?

No, you will not need an alignment after changing sway bar bushings.

You only need an alignment on a MKIV car if you change the ball joints or lower control arm bushings.

Ok thanks, does the job is the same when you change the rear sway bar bushing instead of the front one? I have a squeaking noise but it's coming from the back.

The rear bushings are MUCH harder to change. Not a DIY for an average wrencher. The whoe rear trailing axle needs to be reomoved from the vehicle. Its about a 4 hour job for an above average DIYer.

Wingnut said:

The rear bushings are MUCH harder to change. Not a DIY for an average wrencher. The whoe rear trailing axle needs to be removed from the vehicle.

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Well, it's actually possible to leave the shocks attached and only lower the front cross-beam... supported... Of course, then you have to fight with the bushings to get them out...

Yuri.

So... any way to tell from your vin sticker if you have a 21mm or a 23mm?

keggo said:

So... any way to tell from your vin sticker if you have a 21mm or a 23mm?

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Nope. Take a 22 mm wrench and try to slide over the sway bar. If it goes on easily, 21mm, if not........